This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Swedish. (January 2017)Click [show] for important translation instructions.

Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.

Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.

You must provide "copyright attribution in the "edit summary by providing an "interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary (using German): Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Exact name of German article]]; see its history for attribution.

The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined "road and rail bridge in Europe and connects two major metropolitan areas: "Copenhagen, the Danish capital city, and the Swedish city of "Malmö. It connects the road and rail networks of the "Scandinavian Peninsula with those of "Central and "Western Europe. A data cable also makes the bridge the backbone of internet data transmission between central Europe and Sweden/Finland.[2]

The Øresund Bridge was designed by the Danish engineering firm "COWI. The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby "Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent "ice floes from blocking the strait.

The Øresund Bridge crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden, but in accordance with the "Schengen Agreement and the "Nordic Passport Union, there are usually no passport inspections. There are random customs checks at the entrance toll booths entering Sweden, but not when entering Denmark. Since January 2016, checks have become significantly more stringent due to the "European migrant crisis.

Contents

The concept of a bridge over the Øresund was first formally proposed in 1936 by a consortium of engineering firms who proposed a national motorway network for Denmark.[3][4] The idea was dropped during "World War II, but picked up again thereafter and studied in significant detail in various Danish-Swedish government commissions through the 1950s and 1960s.[3] However, disagreement existed regarding the placement and exact form of the link, with some arguing for a link at the narrowest point of the sound at "Helsingør-"Helsingborg, further north of Copenhagen, and some arguing for a more direct link from Copenhagen to "Malmö. Additionally, some regional and local interests argued that other bridge and road projects, notably the unbuilt at that time "Great Belt Fixed Link, should take priority.[3] The governments of Denmark and Sweden eventually signed an agreement to build a fixed link in 1973.[5] However, that project was cancelled in 1978 due to the economic situation,[6] and growing environmental concerns.[7] As the economic situation improved in the 1980s, interest continued and the governments signed a new agreement in 1991.

An OMEGA centre report identified the following as primary motivations for construction of the bridge:[7]

to improve transport links in northern Europe, from Hamburg to Oslo;[7]

regional development around the Øresund as an answer to the intensifying globalisation process and Sweden's decision to apply for membership of the European Community;[7]

connecting the two largest cities of the region, which were both experiencing economic difficulties;[7]

improving communications to "Kastrup airport, the main flight transportation hub in the region.[7]

Despite two schedule setbacks – the discovery of 16 unexploded World War II bombs on the seafloor and an inadvertently skewed tunnel segment – the bridge-tunnel was finished three months ahead of schedule.

Although traffic between Denmark and Sweden increased by 61 percent in the first year after the bridge opened, traffic levels were not as high as expected, perhaps due to high tolls.[13] However, since 2005, traffic levels have increased rapidly. This may be due to "Danes buying homes in Sweden to take advantage of lower housing prices in Malmö and commuting to work in Denmark. In 2012, to cross by car cost "DKK 310, "SEK 375 or "€43, with discounts of up to 75% available to regular users. In 2007, almost 25 million people travelled over the Øresund Bridge: 15.2 million by car and bus and 9.6 million by train. By 2009, the figure had risen to 35.6 million by car, coach or train.[14][15]

In January 2016, amidst the "European migrant crisis, Sweden was granted a temporary exemption from the Schengen Agreement in order to mandate that all travellers across the bridge had photographic proof of identity. A fine of SEK 50,000 would be the punishment for travel companies serving travellers without such identity documents.[16] The move marked a break with 60 years of passport-free travel between the Nordic countries.[17]

Aerial photo of Øresund Bridge. In the foreground is "Copenhagen Airport on the island "Amager, to the left of the bridge is the Danish island of "Saltholm, and in the background, the bridge connects to Malmö.

At 7,845 m (25,738 ft), the bridge covers half the distance between Sweden and the Danish island of Amager, the border between the two countries being 5.3 km (3.3 mi) from the Swedish end. The structure has a mass of 82,000 tonnes and supports two railway tracks beneath four road lanes in a horizontal girder extending along the entire length of the bridge. On both approaches to the three "cable-stayed bridge sections, the girder is supported every 140 m (459 ft) by concrete piers. The two pairs of free-standing cable-supporting towers are 204 m (669 ft) high allowing shipping 57 m (187 ft) of head room under the main span, but most ships' captains prefer to pass through the unobstructed Drogden Strait above the Drogden Tunnel. The cable-stayed main span is 491 m (1,611 ft) long. A girder and cable-stayed design was chosen to provide the specific rigidity necessary to carry heavy rail traffic, and also to resist large accumulations of ice.["citation needed] The bridge experiences occasional brief closures during very severe weather, such as the "St. Jude storm of October 2013.[18]

Due to high longitudinal and transverse loads acting over the bridge and to accommodate movements between the superstructure and substructure, it has "bearings weighing up to 20 t each, capable of bearing vertical loads up to 96,000 kN in a longitudinal direction and up to 40,000 kN in transverse direction. The design, manufacturing and installation of the bearings were carried out by the Swiss civil engineering firm Mageba.[19]

Vibration issues, caused by several cables in the bridge moving under certain wind and temperature conditions, were combatted with the installation of compression spring dampers installed in pairs at the centre of the cables. Two of these dampers were equipped with laser gauges for ongoing monitoring. Testing, development and installation of these spring dampers was carried out by specialists European Springs.[20]

The bridge joins Drogden tunnel on the "artificial island of "Peberholm (Pepper Islet). The Danes chose the name to complement the natural island of "Saltholm (Salt Islet) just to the north. Peberholm is a designated nature reserve built from Swedish rock and the soil dredged up during the bridge and tunnel construction, approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long with an average width of 500 m (1,640 ft). It is 20 m (66 ft) high.

The connection between Peberholm and the artificial peninsula at "Kastrup on Amager island, the nearest populated part of Denmark, is through the 4,050-metre (13,287 ft) long Drogden Tunnel (Drogdentunnelen). It comprises a 3,510-metre (11,516 ft) "immersed tube plus 270-metre (886 ft) entry tunnels at each end. The tube tunnel is made from 20 prefabricated reinforced concrete segments – the largest in the world at 55,000 "tonnes each – interconnected in a trench dug in the seabed. Two tubes in the tunnel carry railway tracks, two carry roads and a small fifth tube is provided for emergencies. The tubes are arranged side–by–side.

The rail link is operated jointly by the Swedish "SJ and Danish railways via "DSBFirst on a commission by "Skånetrafiken and other county traffic companies (that also sell tickets) and the Danish transport agency. A series of new dual-voltage trains was developed, linking the Copenhagen area with Malmö and southern Sweden as far as "Gothenburg and "Kalmar. SJ operates "X2000 and "InterCity trains over the bridge, with connections to Gothenburg and "Stockholm. DSB operates trains to "Ystad that connect directly to a ferry to "Bornholm. "Copenhagen Airport at "Kastrup has its own railway station close to the western bridgehead. Trains operate every 20 minutes, once an hour during the night, in both directions. An additional couple of Øresundstrains are operated at rush hour, and 1–2 SJ trains and DSB trains per hour and direction every other hour. Freight trains also use the crossing.

The rail section is "double track1,435 mm (4 ft 81⁄2 in) "standard gauge and capable of "speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph), slower in Denmark, especially in the tunnel section. There were challenges related to the difference in "electrification and "signalling between the "Danish and "Swedish railway networks. The solution chosen is to switch the electrical system from Swedish "15 kV, 16.7 Hz to Danish "25 kV, 50 Hz before the eastern bridgehead at Lernacken in Sweden. The line is signalled according to the standard Swedish system across the length of the bridge. On Peberholm the line switches to Danish signalling, which continues into the tunnel.

Swedish trains run on the left, Danish on the right. Initially the switch was made at "Malmö Central Station, a terminus at that time. After the 2010 inauguration of the "Malmö City Tunnel connection, a "flyover was built at "Burlöv, north of Malmö, where the two southbound tracks cross over the northbound pair. The railway in Malmö thus uses the Danish standard.

The cost for the Øresund Connection, including motorway and railway connections on land, was DKK 30.1 billion (~€4.0 bn) according to the 2000 year price index, with the cost of the bridge expected in 2003 to be recouped by 2037.[21] In 2006, Sweden began work on the "Malmö City Tunnel, a SEK 9.45 billion connection with the bridge that was completed in December 2010.

The connection will be entirely user-financed. The owner company is owned half by the Danish state and half by the Swedish state. This owner company has taken loans guaranteed by the governments to finance the connection and the user fees are its only income. After the increase in traffic, these fees are enough to pay the interest and begin repaying the loans, which is expected to take about 30 years.

Taxpayers have not paid for the bridge nor the tunnel, but tax money has been used for the land connections. On the Danish side, the land connection has domestic benefit, mainly connecting the airport to the railway network. The Malmö City Tunnel has the benefit of connecting the southern part of the inner city to the rail network and allowing many more trains to and from Malmö.

According to "The Öresund Committee, the bridge has made a national economic gain of DKK 57 billion, or SEK 78 billion SEK (~€8.41 bn) on both sides of the strait by increased commuting and lower commuting expense.[22] The gain is estimated to be SEK 6.5 billion per year but this could be increased to 7.7 billion by removing the three biggest obstacles to integration and mobility, the two largest being that non-EU nationals in Sweden are not allowed to work in Denmark and that many professional qualifications and merits are not mutually recognised.[23]

^"New Baltic data cable plan unfolding". Yle yhtiönä. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013. According to current plans, the undersea optic fibre cable would run directly from Germany to Finland. Haavisto said that the project could make Finland a significant international data hub. So far, all data transmission to Finland has taken place via the Øresund Bridge, that is through Denmark and Sweden.